An early penalty gave Freestone with his sixth goal in four starts for United and it proved enough for Tony Dobson's men to secure another maximum points hall to pull them further towards mid-table respectability.

Freestone sent keeper Paul Stark the wrong way with his 13th minute spot kick awarded after Dave Pearson had been needlessly chopped down by Stuart Tuck.

In a dour opening half United made most of the running but they lacked the razor edge of recent outings and struggled to break down a shaky Eastbourne defence.

The best opportunity to increase their lead fell to Pearson shortly before the interval but, with only Stark to beat, he drove into the side-netting after being sent clear by Danny Hall.

The East Sussex side finally woke up after the break and were unlucky not to snatch an equaliser.

Dave Adams saw two shots well saved by United keeper Jason Pearcey, and he also glanced a header just wide, while John Scarborough drove narrowly over the crossbar.

But Rugby also had their chances, the best falling to substitute Jermaine Gordon.

Nathan Thompson's defencesplitting pass sent Gordon racing clear but a perfectly timed tackle by Scarborough took the ball from his boot as the striker was winding up to shoot. Gordon also forced a fine stop from Stark late on after shrugging off the attentions of Scarborough.